Cyclone Swimming Winter Training Daily Blog

Courtesy: cyclones.com

Release: 01/07/2014

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Hello Cyclone swimming family, friends, and fans.

The sun was peeking through the clouds this morning as we set off to Pine Crest for training trip practice number four. From 10 a.m. to noon, we were divided into two practice groups: sprint and IM. The sun continued to shine as the sprint group swam in the short course pool while the IMers practiced in long course. I was in the IM group, and we did a fair amount of drilling and kicking as well as 40 by 50s IM order by 10. They were on decent intervals alternating smooth and build-to-fast, so we got a really good IM workout in.

The sprinters did a bunch of sprint 25s to get into the sprinting groove. They also had a fun set called "Who's the rabbit?” For four 100s, one person, the rabbit, would be chosen, but no one knows who it is. Duane would come each lane and cover his mouth, and if he stuck his tongue out at you, you were the rabbit. During the 100, everyone has to stay at the same pace until the rabbit decides to sprint. Then everyone has to try to sprint to beat the rabbit.

When practice ended, everyone was ready to hit the beach. After a quick lunch, I ventured out to partake in the sea breeze and warm sand. The ocean was absolutely breathtaking as the sun danced over the waves reflecting the different shades of blue that spread over the vast majority of water. The sky became a perfect summer backdrop with its clear blue color outlining the rays of the sun. Many of the girls took advantage of the radiant sun and laid out to tan, relax, and read. A lot of the girls went straight into the ocean to find sea shells that were close to shore. I joined the girls in the ocean to pick up the sea shells as well as catch some waves that were racing towards the shore.

After spending quality time on the beach in sunny, 80 degree weather, we all went back inside to rest up before our practice at 7 p.m., but around 6 p.m., rain started to pelt down on our hotel as the weather turned cool and the wind picked up. At 6:40 p.m., the rain stopped, but it was still chilly as we drove back to Pine Crest to start our dry land weight practice. After about an hour of weights and abs, we quickly dove into the long course pool for our second practice because it was starting to get really cold. There were three groups tonight: IM, mid-distance, and sprint. The wind enthusiastically tousled the flags as we continued to swim through the biting breeze. Thank goodness the pool was heated and that we were swimming our sets constantly or we would have been frozen. The sprinters, because they do less, got out earlier and headed home as the IMers and Mid-distance swimmers finished off their practice. Duane and Kelly were bundled up in their coats, but they continued to encourage us. Wind and rain will never stop the cyclones from finishing a practice.

As always, we successfully finished another day of training trip. The practices are challenging, but being here in Florida makes training fun. There are seven weeks until conference, so every practice is a chance to prepare for success. When Big 12s comes around, it will be these practices that carry us through four days of grueling competition. We as a team are so blessed to have the opportunity to become better here in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. to accomplish our goals at the Big 12 Conference.